B.W. “Stoney” Stone isn’t looking for presents at the Aug. 26 party to celebrate his 85th birthday. He’d much rather have cash — checks and credit cards are fine, too — for his organization that benefits East County youth.

This will be the 19th year that a birthday party has been thrown for Stone to raise money for the nonprofit “Stoney’s Kids,” with the proceeds going to programs as varied as the El Cajon Recreation Department, the Salvation Army holiday toy drive and the El Cajon Youth Symphony.

Stone, who lives in a mobile home park in Santee, said he takes satisfaction in knowing he’s helping children.

“Some kids don’t get much,” he said. “I feel very rewarded that we can help these kids and make them better citizens.”

Stone — whose actual birthday is Aug. 28 — was born in Mesa, Ariz., but his family moved to National City when he was 13. After high school, he served three years in the Air Force, then worked in a grocery store.

He opened his own store, Stoney’s Rock ’n’ Roll Market, in El Cajon in 1957. He went into finance in the mid-1970s, helping found American Valley Bank. Although he officially retired from banking 32 years ago, he said he stayed involved in the business until a couple of years ago.

Stone’s efforts for East County youth began when Jim Davis, then chief of the El Cajon Police Department, approached him because the department’s DARE program, which teaches children to avoid drugs, was in financial trouble. The help for DARE grew into a more wide-ranging plan to help East County youth, leading to Stoney’s Kids.

Stone is so devoted to Stoney’s Kids that when his wife of 55 years, Bonnie, died in October 2009, he asked for donations to the nonprofit instead of flowers.

“Flowers are pretty, but they die and go away,” he said.

Stone said 98 percent of the money donated to the all-volunteer organization goes to the programs it benefits. The only overhead goes toward paying for insurance and some costs to put on the party, said Odie Goward, a Stoney’s Kids board member.

Lori Beliveau, ﻿director of the El Cajon Recreation Department, said Stoney’s Kids last year provided $8,000 in scholarships for more than 400 children who otherwise couldn’t have afforded to attend recreation programs. The nonprofit also contributed $5,900 for an after-school program at the department’s Bostonia Center, which offered homework assistance, cooking classes and other activities.

Stoney’s Kids has also pledged $14,000 this year for a sports program for El Cajon youth, to be funded from the money raised at Stoney’s birthday party, she said.

Like other nonprofits, Stoney’s Kids has seen a decline in donations with the economic downturn. The organization’s tax returns showed it raised $39,106 in the fiscal year ending in July 2009, down from $54,745 the previous year.

Goward said she still expects several hundred people at the dinner.

She said it has been more difficult to obtain donations for items up for auction at this year’s event. “We’re struggling with getting things,” she said. “Everybody is struggling.”

There is no charge for the dinner, and reservations are not required. Guests are asked to donate whatever they can. This year, the group is seeking 85 donors to pay $100 each for the candles to be placed on Stone’s birthday cake.

Stone still stays active, and occasionally drops by to see the children benefited by Stoney’s Kids, even trying a little hip-hop dancing with youths at an El Cajon Recreation Department program.

“I’m just out and going every day,” he said. “I don’t sit around and brood.”

Goward, who has known Stone since she started at American Valley Bank in 1991, said Stone’s positive attitude has contributed to keeping him so healthy.

“Stoney loves his days every day,” she said. “He’s always been about helping people and loving life.”